CONTROVERSIAL: The nude play caused controversy within the Catholic community (Image: CEN)

The original production called Dios (God) was organised by the cultural centre of the city of Rafaela, in the northern Argentina province of Santa Fe.

The play was shown during an annual theatre festival which has been held in the city over the last 15 years.

During the show, a group of naked performers reportedly danced in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary and hugged a statue of Pope Francis while wearing green handkerchiefs with the symbol of the pro-abortion movement in Argentina.

TARGET: The play featured a statue of Pope Francis (Image: GETTY)

The play caused controversy within the Catholic community.

According to local media, the play was meant to represent a Catholic ceremony.

It began with the singing of hymns, which the actors invited the spectators to join in with.

At a certain moment the two statues appeared on the scene, closely followed by the naked actors who reportedly invited the public to join them on stage.

However, the theatre production has also received criticism from some local residents as well as the religious community, some of whom wrote a letter to request the councillor of Rafaela, Luis Castellano, to do something about the offence caused.

Bishop Luis Fernandez also released a press statement saying the church defends freedom in the arts, but that the "play did not respect the Christian faith".

He said: "It is an insult to the religious spirit that does not exist with our wish to believe in peace in our country.

“This incident hurts us deeply, that this is the feeling of the Catholics in Rafaela.”

The organisation responded that they were clear during the promotion of the play that it "could hurt the religious, moral and ideological sensitivity of the spectator" and that they have the choice of going into or not.

Also entry was not permitted to those under 18.

The director of the play, Lisandro Rodriguez, said the production is in fact a kind of tribute to the Pope.

In a previous interview about the play, which has reportedly been shown previously, Rodriguez said: "We are going to talk about things that are not spoken about.”